Euronews: Nokia Goes After RIM

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), BlackBerry , MegaFon and the GSM Association (GSMA) -- all these and more in today's roundup of EMEA headlines.

An arbitrator has ruled in favour of Nokia in its dispute with RIM over the use of certain patents related to WLAN technology, reports Reuters. Nokia said the arbitrator had found that RIM was "in breach of contract and ... not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing royalties," and the vendor has now filed cases in the U.S., U.K. and Canada in a bid to enforce the ruling in those countries. (See Intellectual Property Boom.)

MegaFon's initial public offering (IPO) kicked off today on the London stock exchange, with shares priced at US$20, the bottom end of the guided range, reports the Daily Telegraph. Within a few minutes of trading the price of the Russian mobile operator's shares had dropped slightly, to $19.76.

French Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) vendor InfoVista SA has acquired radio access network (RAN) and mobile backhaul network planning and optimization software specialist Mentum SA for an undisclosed sum. According to InfoVista, which is now privately owned by Thoma Bravo, Mentum has 375 customers, including 100 that are using its planning tools for their LTE networks. (See PE Firm Takes Control of InfoVista.)

The GSM Association has been busy today, lauding the deployment of rich communication service (RCS)-enabled applications by Spain's three main mobile operators -- Movistar (Spain) (Telefónica), Orange Spain and Vodafone España S.A. -- under the Association's Joyn brand and making a number of industry announcements from its Connected Europe mini conference in Brussels. In addition to urging European governments to be proactive in encouraging and developing the use of mobile communications and calling for more women in the mobile industry, the GSMA announced a Grand Tour cycle ride from Brussels to Barcelona to raise awareness of diabetes and to highlight the benefits of mHealth (mobile health). (See Spanish Telcos Joyn Forces to Tackle OTT Threat .)

French mobile operator SFR is cutting 856 jobs, essentially in response to the arrival of cut-price competitor Free Mobile in the market earlier in the year, reports Reuters. (See Iliad Disrupts the French Mobile Scene and Euronews: SFR, Numericable Discuss Merger.)

Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) has got the green light from the country's competition authority for its proposed acquisition of YESSS!, an absurdly named mobile operator. However, the approval is conditional on Hutchison 3G Austria GmbH 's indirect acquisition of Orange Austria Telecommunication GmbH. , which is currently being scrutinized by the European Commission. (See Euronews: Telekom Austria Slashes Dividend and América Móvil Seals Telekom Austria Stake .)

Elsewhere in the EMEA region:

• Etisalat Offers Augmented Reality in MEA
• Orange Unveils Emerginov for Micro-Services

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading